RICHARD BRAVO of Bravo FX GroupApril 30, 2007, Categories: Web design, CSS, Flash |
How did you get into web design?
I've always been into omputers; since junior high. I was a professional chef in Seattle and broke my back on the job - slipping on a wet loor. Being in a tech hub like Seattle the vibe just wears off on you, so I studied web design while I was off my feet. I oved back to Jackson Hole, WY and was working tech support at local ISP and we kept getting requests to build websites. The company did not provide the service and I got the green light from my boss to field all of the calls from those customers. That was 10 years ago!
Do you remember the very first site you designed?
Yup! ScottSingleton.com
You are doing a lot of photography and graphic design, is this a specialization for you?
Yes. My strength definitely lies in the graphic end of the work. I am the art director for the company and oversee all art on our projects.
Where do you get your art for these web pages?
For local clients I will typically shoot the photos. Clip art is created in house or through stock agencies.
What will be the next big development in webpage design?
I think CSS will continue to grow and empower designers to build fat-free sites. Ultimately that will be a major contributor to the overall path of the internet; a streamlined, ultra-fast user experience that is highly intuitive and personalized. Other than that I think the web design industry will see a fierce partition of ?good' designers and ?poor' designers. There is so much crap out on the web today that clients as well as users will begin to demand superior interface design. This will be driven by a mass exodus from consumers living out their daily lives on the internet. Everything from shopping, travel, entertainments, etc. You see it today but it will be far more common place over the next 5 years.
Have you ever worked with website templates?
Quite a bit; mostly building my own.
What website template providers have you tried?
What was your experience with them?
It was a pretty straight forward process; not bad.
What do you think about Flash technology?
I think Flash is terribly misused! Flash definitely holds a place in a ?classroom' environment or for presentations. As a whole however I think Flash is overused and misplaced on the average website you may come across.
What are the advantages and disadvantages of using Flash?
Even in today's broadband steeped society Flash bogs sites down. More so, it gets old. The user is forced to listen to the same old intro music and loading sound effects and mouse over effects, over and over and over and over . . . it's really irritating after the first or second page load. As I said however, I feel very strongly that Flash is a brilliant medium for presentations and especially interactive learning environments. It is near seamless in it's cross platform compatibility, highly portable and relatively easy to create a highly dynamic and impactful user experience.
What are your sources of inspiration?
Music, my surroundings, other artists, designers, etc. That's always such a tough question to answer. I think inspiration is just that; something spontaneous and organic. You never know exactly where it may come from. I could be working on asite and see a commercial that draws an idea out. Or I may be hiking and the light comes on for a color palette. Who knows? That's the beauty of creativity; if you keep your mind open ideas can flood in all day.
What are your favorite website designs that you did and did NOT design yourself?
I really like TetonMassage.com; one of my designs. It's clean and I really like the spiritual element the design takes on; it was a fun site to create. Some of my favorites right now are the entries in ZenGarden.com; there are some absolutely brilliant designs on there. This is truly a designer's playground for ideas and inspiration as well as learning some amazing uses for CSS.
hat was the toughest project or customer situation you've encountered?
I had a client that asked for a really complex database environment for their site. Along with my code poets we created a fully customized environment. Along with the database structure I designed a network of touch screen computers for their retail store. This all worked together to create a really kick ass high tech environment in their store that blew their competition away. Well the problem was a CHEAP client. They haggled every single little cost on the project. They didn't want to pay on time as agreed in our contract. It was just a mess. Even though every cost was presented ahead of time, they still complained about the cost of the project. Eventually it came to a heated argument, I pulled the plug and cut my losses short. I later found out that one of my designers had gone in and undercut me behind my back and stole the project. I felt betrayed until I heard down the road that they screwed him over too and he never saw a penny from the project.
What are your interests and dislikes in webpage design?
The creative element is always my favorite part of a project. I love brainstorming and doing research. The actual 'work' is my least favorite part of any project really. Mostly in regards to programming however. I could spend all day behind my camera or in Photoshop.
Thank you, Richard, for the information and your experiences, as well as your designs.
Helen WalkerLook for me on:
- VIRB
Get in touch with Helen: helen.walker4@gmail.com
You can really say "Bravo" to this guy. Having slipped and broken his back, Richard Bravo spent his time studying web design while off the feet. Now he is a CEO and an art director of Bravo FX Group. He specializes in graphics and photography, and has a lot to say about upcoming CSS-boom in web design and the decrease of Flash.
